Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, appears before the Senate Budget Committee to defend President Barack Obama's budget for FY2010, March 10, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(Newser)
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Barack Obama may be president, but it’s Congress that passes the budget, and moderate Democrats are the ones holding the keys to the federal treasury, reports Time. Obama’s 2010 budget calls for $3.6 trillion in federal spending. And though deficit-hawks appreciate the president’s honest numbers (in contrast to his predecessor), they’re still uneasy. “There'll definitely be movements by moderate Democrats to impose fiscal responsibility,” says Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman predicts that he and his fellow moderate senators—the same gang that reined in the stimulus—will “start to try to cut back.” But for Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Nebraska Democrat, the concern is less abstract. Obama’s budget diverts money from private student lenders, including Nebraska’s NelNet. “I think it'd be the wrong direction for people to outsource jobs from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Washington DC.”

Last sentence should read "which is what we are currently watching play out"

Doctor-Zaius

Mar 12, 2009 6:02 AM CDT

This is the ultimate problem with the standard Republican philosophy of lowering taxes, primarily on the rich, and running up large deficits when you don't have to. You kick the can down the road to the next generation but then when you need to do some actual deficit spending to right your economy you already have a huge credit card bill. I am not against deficit spending when required by a deflationary spiral (which is what we are in now) however spending as a demagogic strategy to win the votes of the uninformed is a recipe for disaster play out.

Doctor-Zaius

Mar 12, 2009 5:59 AM CDT

I was referring to his "let's do nothing while the country circles the bowl for three years" philosophy. Yes I am familiar with the Smoot/Hawley tariff in case you were wondering.